


To Love an Angel

by quicksilverdeancas (quicksilvermalec), Why_do_you_want_to_know



Series: Discord RPs [1]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: (with very little help from their brothers because they're awesome that way), Angel Wings, Boys Kissing, Castiel and Dean Winchester Need to Use Their Words, Cursed Object, Curses, Emotionally Repressed Dean Winchester, First Kiss, Fluff, Gabriel and Sam Winchester Figure Their Shit Out, Gabriel/Sam Winchester Fluff, Getting Together, Getting-Together, I might be biased toward Sabriel, Light Angst, Light Castiel-centric Angst, Light Dean-centric Angst, Mutually Unrequited, Non-Sexual Wing Kink, Other, Sam Ships It, Sam Winchester Ships Castiel/Dean Winchester, Sam Winchester is So Done, Sam Winchester is a Cat, Sam is Destiel shipper #1, Wing Grooming, Wings, discord rp, dumb bitches, i hope y'all enjoy this, im sorry, it just kinda got shoehorned in there so I removed the tag, not really - Freeform, side sabriel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-19
Updated: 2019-11-21
Packaged: 2021-02-13 06:21:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,276
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21489775
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quicksilvermalec/pseuds/quicksilverdeancas, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Why_do_you_want_to_know/pseuds/Why_do_you_want_to_know
Summary: Dean is pining, Castiel is confused, and Sam is... Sam is a cat. Sam's a fucking cat.
Relationships: Castiel & Dean Winchester, Castiel & Sam Winchester, Castiel/Dean Winchester, Dean Winchester & Sam Winchester
Series: Discord RPs [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1550803
Comments: 10
Kudos: 82





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Why_do_you_want_to_know](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Why_do_you_want_to_know/gifts).

> This is an RP I did on Disord with the beautiful Why_do_you_want_to_know (whom this is gifted to and also cowritten by). It evolved into "a whole-ass fic" (in a spectator's words) and I just had to post it. There's a second chapter coming as soon as we finish it.
> 
> Enjoy!

"Sam, I would not recommend you touch that," Cas warned as Sam reached for the discarded gun.

"Why not?" Sam replied.

"Something feels very wrong about it. I cannot tell what it is, but-"

"Yeah, well, there's something very wrong with me but you're friends with me anyway," Sam pointed out, and then he picked up the gun. He had long enough to make a surprised face before he was suddenly gone and in his place was a small orange tabby.

"What the fuck!" Dean yelled in shock from a couple of meters away, as he looked at the small orange ball of allergies which used to be his brother.

Castiel took a deep preparatory breath. "It's cursed," he whispered retroactively. He gritted his teeth and bent over to pick up the Samcat, which mewled at him and then curled into his arms.

Dean blinked a couple of times. "A cursed gun. Of course, because what are our lives!" He muttered to himself, before turning to look at Cas and brother, who was looking very comfy curled up in Cas' arms, "what do we do now?"

Cas looked at him matter-of-factly. "I suppose we must find a way to return him to human form."

Dean sighed, rubbing the back of his neck before nodding, determined. "Ok, let's get him back to the bunker, see if we have any books telling us what to do, is there a way we can get that," he gestured at the gun distrustfully, It had turned his brother into a goddam cat, who knew what else it could do, "back to the bunker without it cursing either of us?" Not for the first time in the last few minutes, Dean wondered just what kind of Winchester luck had ended up with them here.

Cas scrutinized it with his eyes for a long moment before saying, "I believe if we do not make direct contact with it, we should remain unaffected. You do have gloves in your extremely well-stocked car, do you not?"

Dean rolled his eyes in exasperation but answered anyway, "we'll probably have some in the trunk, I can't remember the last time I went through it but I distinctly remember having some once." He thought for a moment, looking between Cas, Sammy and the direction they had parked baby in, before saying, "ok, you stay here with Sam and the gun, I'll go grab some gloves and we'll go from there."

Cas nodded, smiling ever so slightly. "Thank you, Dean."

Dean tried to hide his soft smile as he turned to walk to baby. He was Dean fucking Winchester. He didn't smile softly, and definitely not just because a certain angel had smiled, and definitely _definitely_ not when his brother was cursed to be a cat.

It took a couple of minutes to walk to the car, and a couple more to rummage in the trunk before he found some gloves nestled between the holy oil and an old gun - he didn't miss the irony of that one - but then he was returning back to where he could still see Cas' standing, with a pair of gloves in his hands. "Here we go." He said

Cas gratefully took the gloves from him and handed him Sam Winchester: Cat Form. He pulled the latex gloves onto his hands and picked up the gun. As anticipated, it did not turn him into a cat. (It is possible his being an angel helped with that.) He smiled almost giddily, turning to Dean as if to say 'look, Dean! I was right! I did something right!'

_You should be proud of me_ he thought, and he'd long known of this desire to win Dean's approval, but pride is something else, and it briefly blindsided him.

Dean smiled at his still-not-a-cat best friend but he knew the smile was stiff, _'I did something right?'_ that's what Cas had just said, and sure, he was right, but there was something in those words which just rubbed him the wrong way, like... like Cas thought that all he did was mess up? Dean was about to put those thoughts into words, ask Cas if he was ok and tell him that he was proud of the angel, always was, when a huge sneeze ripped its way out if his mouth. Fucking allergies.

"Are you alright?" Cas asked, abruptly halting his moment of elation to place a hand on his friend's shoulder. He paused, then glanced between Dean and the thing that used to be his brother, and the pieces clicked into place in his mind. "Are you... allergic to cats?" he asked hesitantly.

"Ughhhhhh," Dean moaned as another sneeze tickled his nose and escaped, "yeah, it's the fur I think." Before he could say or do anything more he sneezed again. And again. He couldn't stop sneezing but he also couldn't just drop his little brother! Why out of all things, did the cursed object have to turn Sammy into the one animal Dean was allergic to!?

"Oh, fuck!" Cas shouted, very much channeling Dean. He practically wrenched the little ginger cat out of Dean's hands, cradling him to his chest and holding him protectively away from Dean, although in truth he was far more concerned with protecting Dean from him. "I am so, so very sorry, Dean. If I had known..." He trailed off, looking hopeless. "I'm sorry."

_And, as always, there is the mistake to make up for my doing something right._

Dean quickly brushed at his shirt, hoping to get rid of all the fur so he would stop freaking sneezing! He couldn't help a very small smile at hearing Cas swear, he remembered how Cas had been when they first met. Cas was nothing like he used to be, but Dean liked to think he had improved for the better. It broke his heart a little to see the hopeless look on Cas' face, but he couldn't think of anything to do to help which wouldn't involve going too near Sam. "If you can pass me those gloves, I'll grab the gun and we can head back to the bunker." He paused for a moment to wipe his still slightly running nose, "and I'm sorry Sam, but I think I'm gonna have to avoid you until you get opposable thumbs back."

Cas smirked at him. "Oh, however will he survive?" he murmured dramatically. Then he stripped the gloves off his hands and handed them over to his friend, dropping the gun in the process and taking a few hurried steps away from it to ensure he didn't get accidentally cursed.

Dean fought the urge to stick his tongue out like an overgrown child, but in the end failed and just had to. He stuck his tongue out, smirking as he did so, before putting the gloves onto his hands and walking to the gun. He tried to ignore how pleasantly warm the gloves were, almost like he was holdi- nope. He was not going to let his mind go there. Cas didn't like him in that way so he wasn't going to let his heart just get broken when his head finally caught up.

"Hope this doesn't curse me." He said as he picked up the gun. He held his breath for a moment but when he didn't suddenly turn furry, spun on his heel and started walking to the car, "come on Cas, back to the bunker we go." He hoped they had a cursed item box in the car, it was going to be problematic if they didn't.

Cas watched Dean gingerly lift up the gun and very carefully avoid touching it to any part of his skin. He knew, he'd always known, but... somehow this made it more real. Like going with Dean to do his job was so domestic, so personal. And it was all the domesticity he was ever going to get, because his hunter was never really _his_, and never would be. Dean didn't see him that way, and he was okay with that.

"Let's go, Dean. I will find Sam suitable transportation safety while you put that-" he nodded toward the cursed gun "somewhere safe."

"Ok," Dean nodded walking to the car and carefully looking through the trunk while making sure the gun didn't touch him. "Yes!" He celebrated when he found an empty - while slightly stained - cursed item box. That would keep it safe. He slowly looked between Sam and the car, "do you think the car is going to be too much of an enclosed space for me to drive?" He wondered aloud, "maybe we could roll down the windows?"

"I will hold Sam in my lap," Cas offered. "I should be able to sufficiently protect him."

"Ok." Dean hummed as he slowly claimed into the car, "Sammy you know the rules, no claws and definitely no bodily fluids. Got it!" He tried to ignore the stab in his heart which came from Cas saying he would protect Sam. It wasn't that he didn't want Sam protected, and it wasn't like Cas didn't spend half his time protecting Dean, but for some reason it still hurt. Like even though he knew Cas cared about him just as much as he cared about Sam, his heart couldn't help but hear it as a rejection. He hated his stupid heart.

He started the car quickly and rolled down a window, hoping that Sam's fur wouldn't make him sneeze while driving, that could be a problem. "Come on Cas." He called with a smile.

The drive was uneventful. Cas listened to Dean humming along with his Led Zeppelin tape, he looked out the window, and he dozed off. Sam-cat was curled up in his lap, and one of his arms was wrapped around his entire small body while his other hand idly stroked through orange fur. His head tipped back against the headrest and he lost consciousness, lulled by the gentle rocking rhythm of the car.

His mind was full of _Dean, Dean, Dean_. He dreamt about Dean sometimes, on the rare occasion that he allowed himself to sleep. Most of the time, he refused to lose consciousness, because he must always be ready to protect his charges, to protect _Dean_, at any time, but... it was soft, and comforting, and it feelt like home.

Sometimes he dreamt of Dean, and when he did it was often of the way Dean smiles, the sound of his laughter, the exact shade of green in his eyes. But this dream was just a little different.

In this dream, they kissed. They were having a picnic on a hill in the springtime. There were flowers everywhere and the grass was green and slightly damp under Cas' fingers and he kissed Dean. All they did was kiss, and he reveled in it because it was all he'd ever get.

Dean turned the engine off slowly. They had just arrived back at the bunker and he knew he needed to wake Cas so they could go in, even if it was just to move to an actual bed, and Dean himself was exhausted and he knew he couldn't go to sleep until he woke Cas and went inside.

But Cas looked so peaceful. He was leaning back against the headrest, a small smile on his face while Sam snoozed on his lap, his face tucked against his body so he looked more like an orange pom pom than a cat. Dean didn't want to disturb them, especially when Cas was looking like that. His best friend didn't smile so sweetly often enough, a small part of him desperately wanted to know what he was dreaming about, but a larger past of him couldn't handle it. He wasn't ready to hear about how Cas' happiest dreams didn't involve him.

With a regretful sigh, he leaned forwards and gently prodded Cas' arm. "Come on Cas," he whisper-hissed. "We're back."

When he felt the gentle shaking of his shoulder, Cas managed to drag himself out of his fantasy. He rolled his head to the other side and saw Dean's emerald green eyes less than six inches from his own. He subconsciously tilted his head forward slightly like he was going to kiss Dean, then remembered Dean didn't want that. He froze, pulled away, rubbed at his eyes with his knuckles, and carried his newly acquired pet into the bunker, deliberately avoiding Dean's gaze.

Dean watched Cas' retreating back with a small frown on his face. He was sure, just for a half a second there, that Cas was going to kiss him. But it was impossible, there was no way Castiel, angel of the freaking lord, liked him that way. Cas could barely even look at him, never mind like-like him.

_But he's not Castiel._ a traitorous voice whispered in his head _he's Cas._

Dean shook the thoughts away. He just needed some sleep, then his overly hopeful brain would crawl back into the hole it had come from and he would be able to focus on changing Sam back to.... Well Sam.

He walked into the bunker and headed to his room, slightly surprised that he didn't encounter Cas once on his walk. Normally Cas hung around either the war room or the library, and Dean was constantly running into him in the corridors, but he was no where to be seen. Shacking off any stray thoughts, Dean collapsed into his bed, succumbing to sleep almost instantly, while images of blue eyes and love filled whispers filled his dreams.

It was odd, at least at first. He was used to three human bodies in the bunker, to no privacy, to never being alone with Dean. It was odd the absence of the 6'5" man who drew all the attention. And it was odd that they suddenly had a cat.

Cas was a little afraid of it, too. He could see it so easily going wrong.

He could see himself getting used to the easy dance they did in the morning, moving around each other, never quite touching as they gathered food and coffee. He could get used to the way Dean grinned when Cas already had his mug waiting for him. He could get used to sensing whenever Dean entered the room.

He could get used to it all, and that was what scared him. Because it was all so _loving_ and _domestic_ and that meant when they got Sam back and it all got ripped away from him again... it would hurt twice as bad.

Dean woke slowly in the morning. He couldn't figure out what was waking him up, but it definitely wasn't his brother, that moose couldn't make small clicky noises if he tried, and it wasn't Cas because Cas walked soundlessly... So what was it? It took him a moment longer than he should have to remember what had happened a week earlier. Sam was a cat. That was Sam.

The oddest thing was how Dean had gotten so used to it just being him and Cas, gotten so used to Sam being a small ginger cat, yet he still seemed to forget it in the mornings. He missed his brother, truth be told. He could barely be in the same room as him without sneezing. And yet... Yet he feared when they finally found the way to reverse he spell. Because once they did Sam would be back and whatever _this_ was, would be gone. Whatever had filled the bunker over the last week would be shattered and things would go back to how they were before.

And for some reason he really didn't want that.

He sighed as he climbed out of bed, heading to the kitchen where he knew Cas would be ready with a mug of coffee. Then they would move to the library to try and find a way to save Sam and he would have to hide his relief every time they came up empty handed. Then he would spend at least an hour hating himself for not wanting to save his brother.

Cas looked up when his friend entered the room, smiled at him, nodded to the mug already sitting in front of the vacant chair across from him. Sam jumped up onto the table and Cas gently lifted him up and carried him somewhere else. He'd been extremely conscientious about making sure Dean and Sam stayed far away from each other. He couldn't have Dean having an allergy attack.

He felt guilty for the part of him that didn't want to get Sam back to his normal human form. He loved his friend, he did, but everything that was going on with Dean was so amazing, and he didn't want it to end. He should want to save his best friend, but he just couldn't make himself.

He slid a book across the table to Dean. "I can only translate part of this," he murmured. "Your Latin is better than mine." (He was lying. He was an angel, he spoke perfect Latin. He just wanted an excuse to lean over the book with Dean, to see their mingling breath in the air. He relished in the small things he could steal.)

Dean took a quick gulp of the coffee sitting in front of him. It was perfectly made - like always - just the way he liked it and it never ceases to amaze him how Cas always got it perfect.

He tried to hide his frown when Cas asked him to translate Latin, it really wasn't his favorite language and he was at least 90% sure that Cas' Latin would be better than his. Cas was a lot older than his after all. But any protests he managed to come up with disappeared when Cas came over and leaned over the book with him, their breaths mingling in silent air.

"This might take a minute." He lied. He didn't actually know how long it would take, but he knew he would drag it out for as long as he could, just to keep Cas close.

Cas listened to Dean breathe as he attempted to translate the passage in front of him. He could feel his hot breath on his ear and it made his flesh break out into goosebumps. "Take as long as you like," he murmured, smiling at the hunter.

"Ok let's see." Dean hummed, gently running his finger along the words he was meant to be translating. It did promise to be the anti-curse for all curses, so here was hoping, "_Finire maledictionem converte tempus. Set omnia recta et retro. et quia omne responsum simplex. amor vincit omnia_." He read out, stumbling slightly over the pronunciation. "Are you sure you wouldn't be better at this than me?"

"You are doing fine, Dean," Cas assured him. "You have been doing the hunting thing much longer than I, so I trust you."

Dean nodded, that made sense. Didn't it? There wasn't any other reason Cas would get Dean to translate it... was there? Dean spend a couple of seconds wondering before deciding it didn't matter. Cas was here with him, and there was some Latin to be translated, who cared who translated it anyway. "So that first bit is just... Basically 'to end the curse', actually this anti-curse is really flowery. The first section is all just 'to end the curse' and then it's 'the answer is simple'.... Um... That's... Oh." Dean stopped reading. He knew that word, he knew all of those words. He couldn't- no. That couldn't be right. He must be reading it wrong, maybe... Maybe this anti-curse was fake. There must be some other way, a real way which wasn't pulled straight from a fairy tale.

"Dean?" Cas asked uncertainly when Dean's breath hitched. He hadn't actually been attempting to translate it, he had been far too focused on Dean being so close to him, so he didn't actually know what it said. "What's wrong?"

Dean turned to look at his friend, he couldn't read that out could he? He couldn't tell Cas what it said, especially when it was probably fake. And yet... he had to. Cas looked so concerned, sounded so uncertain. "'Amor vincit Omnia' that means 'love conquers all'." He paused for a moment, trying to judge Cas' reaction, "I mean, it's probably fake isn't it? That's just some Disney shit, not real magic."

Castiel kept his face carefully blank. "In fact, that makes a lot of sense. God favors love above all else in the world. God loves Her creations unconditionally, and protects them as much as She can, and She created love to be the most powerful force on Earth. If this anti-curse is about true love, it makes sense that it would be effective for a wide variety of curses. What's the rest?"

Dean sighed, laying his head on the table in defeat. "That's the problem," he explained, his voice slightly muffled due to the table, "it doesn't say anything else! The entire paragraph is basically just 'to break the curse, the answer is love conquers all'. It doesn't say anything more helpful!" He was suddenly disappointed about having his head on the table, he just wanted to slam it down, even if he would probably give himself concussion. "Does it want us to love him? Because I can tell you he's my brother, I already do. Does it mean that to break the curse a moment of pure love needs to happen? I don't know what it wants!"

Pure love.

In Dean's own eloquent words: fuck.

Cas took a deep breath. That would prove a challenge, considering how hopelessly Castiel was in love with Dean and how resolutely Dean was _not_ in love with him back. He had made his peace, come to terms with that, but this might be an issue.

Dean slowly lifted his head off the table. Cas still hadn't reacted much more than a deep breath and he was starting to get worried about his friend.

A small meow came from the other room, along with the clinking of small claws on the floor, reminding Dean why they were even looking at this. Sam needed to be turned back, Sam needed to go back to being human, Sam needed his life back. But this was about more than just Sam. It shouldn't be, but it was.

To be honest, he had no idea what to do. Because, annoying as it was, he had one idea. He could confess his love and hope that Cas liked him back and their love was pure enough, but Cas couldn't possibly love a fuck up like Dean and the fear of rejection wiped that plan off the board. Other than that. He had no ideas.

"I have only one idea," Cas lied. (He had only one _good_ idea) "We should make a list of people we love. It might be more effective if it's you, but I suppose I might also be able to break the curse."

"Okay." Dean said, even though it really wasn't ok, "I'll go and... Grab some paper." And with that he fled the room. Cas was right, this seemed like a good idea, there is nothing purer than making a list of people who you love. But the problem was... What would Dean write. Everyone he loved was either dead or in this bunker and he already knew who he would want to write at the very top, and that wouldn't exactly go well would it? What a great way for someone to find you love them, pit them at the very top of your love list.

When Dean returned, Cas could feel the anxiety coming off of him in waves, but didn't comment. Instead, he just took the pen and paper and started to list the people that he loved, making sure Dean could see what he was writing.

_Dean Winchester _  
Sam Winchester  
Gabriel  
Michael  
Kevin  
Charlie

The list went on with other angels who had helped him as a fledgling, but none were as important as the top three items on his list.

Dean watched with a tight smile as Cas took the pen and paper, which quickly morthed into a shocked look when he saw what Cas was writing. He was at the top of Cas' list.

That was exactly what he had been thinking about earlier... Was... Was it possible that Cas actually could love a fuck up like him?

There was only one was to find out.

He picked up his own pen and paper, before making sure he was sitting where Cas would easily be able to see what he wrote, and started writing.

_Castiel_  
_Sammy_

He paused for a moment, before nodding to himself and writing more names.

_Bobby_  
_Charlie_  
_Kevin_  
_Gabriel_  
_Benny_  
_Crowley_  
_Rowena_

And on and on. Somewhere along the way he found the time to be shocked at himself. He remembered back when he was younger, he made a promise that he would never open his heart to other people, that he would keep the walls up and he and Sam would stay on one side, the rest of the world on the other. But somewhere along the way, in a small barn in Pontiac, Illinois, his walls got blown down and one by one, people trickled in.

Friends.

Family.

People who were both.

The person who was more.

Cas inhaled, slow and shaky, as he stared at his own name in the number 1 slot on Dean's paper.

He was- He was listed _above_ Sam. _He was listed above Sam._

Sam, Dean's brother, whom he'd sworn to protect since he was only 4 years old. Whom he'd carried out of a burning building. Whom he'd sold his soul for. Whom he'd died for over and over and would again - _he loved Cas more_.

What did that mean? What did that mean for Cas?

Dean watched as Cas finally looked at Dean's list. He tried as hard as he could to decipher the look on the angel's face, but like always his face was a stone mask, hiding all his feelings.

Cas inhaled as he stared and Dean could feel his blood start to freeze. There was no mistaking what his list meant. There was no mistaking what Cas' position meant. All he could do was cross his fingers and wait for Cas to react. All he could do was hope that Cas didn't react badly, he could already feel in his chest that he wouldn't be able to survive a bad reaction.

Dean knew that Cas didn't need to do any of the human stuff which Dean did, but he had gotten used to Cas acting as human as anyone else, so the lack of blinking and the lack of breathing was really starting to worry him. He could feel his thoughts start to spiral.

Had that been a mistake?

Was Cas annoyed? Was Cas angry? Was Cas disgusted?

"I'm listed above Sam," Cas observed a little shakily. "Why- why is that?" _Please be the reason I want it to be_.

Dean took a deep breath. He shouldn't lie. He couldn't lie. It was time for honesty. He made the choice to write it, now he had to say it.

"Because... We are writing lists of people we love the most." He breathed in deeply again, trying to calm his racing nerves for long enough to get the words out, "and... You are the person I love the most." He could feel his cheeks going red along with his words, but he made eye contact with Cas and kept it, practically challenging him to find the lie in his words. There was no lie, and it was about time he admitted it to the world.

He could barely comprehend those words - _I love you the most_. "H-How so?"

Dean swallowed down the rising lump of apprehension which was trying to crawl its way up his throat. He needed to answer the question, he needed to tell Cas how he felt.

He opened his mouth to explain. To put his feelings into words. But the words just wouldn't form and he couldn't figure out how to put it all into English. These kinds of feelings just didn't translate into a spoken language, they were feelings and actions. Not words.

Instead of just standing there, opening and closing his mouth forever, Dean did what he did best.

He made an impulsive and probably stupid decision.

In one smooth movement he was right in front of Cas, their breaths mingling together and barely an inch between the two of them.

"Like this," he whispered before closing the distance between the two of them.

Cas instinctively slipped his arms around Dean's neck, pulling him closer, _relishing_ in the way his lips moved against his own. He felt Dean's tongue caress his teeth and he opened his mouth wider for him. It wasn't as hard to slot their noses together as he'd thought it would be, and he smiled just a little into the kiss as he thought that maybe the two of them were designed for this, for each other.

He didn't know how long it was, but they didn't stop kissing until they heard the sound of something hitting the floor. Cas pulled away from Dean like he'd been burned and turns to stare at the man in the doorway. (He's a man! Thank his Mother! But also, that meant that was all they needed to do, which... confused him.) Sam was standing there, looking shocked but happy, and staring at the two of them. The gun he'd been cleaning lay discarded on the floor.

"So it worked," he stated. "Thank Chuck."

Dean stared for a minute at his brother. His brother with opposable thumbs and no ginger fur in sight. His human brother! Before turning to look at Cas. The angel. His angel?

"Umm..." He started intelligently, wracking his brain for something to say - anything to say. He couldn't seem to find anything which quite worked in this situation, though it probably didn't help that Cas had turned his brain to absolute mush. Who knew an angel would be able to kiss that well? And not just any old angel. Cas! Nerdy, adorable little Cas.

His brother was now human again, apparently thanks to him and Cas making out? And also had just walked in on him kissing Cas. Who he also happened to have had a crush on for literally ever (though he suspected Sam already knew about that). And apparently Cas liked him back?

Everything was just so confusing.

“We need to talk." Dean eventually settled on, sending a small smile towards Cas.

Sam grinned. "Oh God, guys, I was a little afraid it wasn't going to do anything, you were just going to keep ignoring it forever and then I was going to be stuck as a cat. Thank freaking God."

"Sam, what are you talking about?" Cas asked. Sam smiled a little sheepishly.

"Dude, I knew the thing was cursed. I was just trying to get you two to pull your heads out of your asses."

"You what!?" Dean asked, feeling his face flush even more. It was from anger, he told himself, anger. Nothing else. "So you decided to get yourself cursed?!"

Honestly, Dean was incredibly glad that Sam had decided to touch that gun, it had worked after all. Both he and Cas had finally (kinda) admitted their feelings for each other. That still didn't mean he was going to admit that to his brother. If Sam thought that getting himself cursed was a good way out of an annoying situation, then they were just going to end up leaving him cursed. "Cas, come on. We need to talk about this. Might as well do it away from my interfering brothers ears." He said, grabbing Cas' hand and practically dragging him out if the room.

Cas smiled, shaking his head at the adorable stupidity of his friend's brother - if he was being honest, his own brother as well. Knowing Dean, Sam wouldn't hear the end of this for weeks, at least until one of them did something else stupid. But he followed Dean into his bedroom and leaned against the wall.

"Dean, I'm in love with you," he stated as neutrally as he could. "I have been since I pulled you out of Hell."

Dean's breath hitched at how naturally Cas said those words. He said them like they were the truest thing in existence. He said them like there wasn't a single smidge of doubt in anyone's mind that they were true.

"That long, huh?" Dean said quietly, trying to resist the urge to pace as he thought over everything that had happened in the last couple of minutes. He couldn't remember Cas pulling him from Hell; the earliest memory he had of Cas, was in that barn. The earliest memory of Cas' existence was finding the handprint on his arm. Back then, he knew that something was going to change. He almost wanted to laugh at younger him for not realizing how much the angel in front of him would change and how much he would change Dean.

He thought back over all his memories of him and Cas. Then he thought back on everything that had happened in the last hour. He expected to feel shock, horror, maybe ever regret hiding in the back of his mind. Or at the very least some worry about how he would never be enough for an amazing creature like Cas.

But he didn't find any of that. All he found was certainty. He loved Cas and Cas loved him and they were made to be together.

This time, the words came easily.

"I love you too, Cas."

Cas' shoulders relaxed. "Good. That's good." He pushed his body off the wall, joined Dean on the bed. "In that case... would you like to do that again?"

Dean smiled, following Cas' lead and relaxing as well. "Yes, I would like to do that again." He said neutrally, even though he knew his eyes were probably sparkling with joy, as he leaned in and captured Cas' lips in a kiss. There were no magic sparks. No birds appeared and started singing, and there was definitely no choir of angels. But in Dean's opinion, it was pretty perfect.

(Cas agreed.)


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam, having been thankfully restored to human form, gets a little bit lonely while his brother bangs an angel.

"So my boyfriend insists that the three of us need to have a conversation about your quote 'fucking stupid idiotic decisions'," Cas began, feeling slightly awkward and still lightheaded from all the kissing earlier.

Dean tried to hide his laugh as he knocked his hip into Cas'. "Talk about throwing me under the bus, Cas," he muttered, pretending to be annoyed even as a wide, happy smile bloomed on his face. He couldn't remember a time he had been this happy, even with his brother's awful life decisions. "But yes, we do definitely need to talk."

Sam rolled his eyes, smiling a little. "You guys sound like such dads right now," he pointed out, and Cas thought for a moment.

"I do not know, Dean." He looked at his boyfriend. "Do we sound like dads?"

Dean glared at Sam, "we do not sound like dads." He said before frowning at the ground. "Dad never sounded like that." He muttered to himself, already knowing that point was futile, John had barely been a dad. John would be having a go at Dean for letting Sam get cursed, not at Sam for getting cursed.

"Our dad doesn't count, Dean. We hardly even had a dad. My point is, it doesn't fucking matter, because I did it, and it worked, and you two are no longer ignoring your stupid feelings anymore and I am very, very happy with that outcome," Sam shot back. Cas smiled at him.

"I am also very glad that Dean has finally stopped bottling up his feelings. It never seems to help anyone.”

Dean rolled his eyes again at Sam, if he kept this up his eyes were going to fall out and sure... Sam had a point. They were together now and Dean's plan had been to just ignore all his feelings for the next forever.... But.... "Just don't do it again." He said, going his voice was firm enought that Sam knew he wasn't joking.

"Also what's this shit about me bottling up my feelings? Cas didn't say anything either." He whined. He knew he sounded like a petulant child but he didn't care. It wasn't just his fault!

"Don't deliberately get myself turned into a cat to get my brother to pull his head out of his ass and ask out the angel he's been pining for forever... _again_?" Sam asked, eyebrows raised in skepticism. "Yeah, I think I can swing that, just let me check my schedule."

"I do not understand most human emotions or how to process them, or how to express them," Cas defended himself. "The reason I did not tell you was because I did not know what I was supposed to say."

Dean rolled his eyes _again_ at his stupid fucking idiot of a brother. "Just don't get cursed again. Full stop. Ok!" he said, deciding to ignore the majority of Sam's statement. He was annoyingly right.

Dean turned to Cas, smiled at him sweetly and said, "you see, we had the same problems, we couldn't express our emotions. Just because you are an angel doesn't get you a free pass. I thought you guys spent millennia watching us all, didn't you pick up anything?" But he made sure to tone his voice so that Cas knew he was only pretending to be an asshole, he truly did understand why Cas hadn't said anything. "Don't worry about it anyway, we are together now aren't we."

"We are," Cas confirmed, taking his hand and squeezing it. "And I am very glad, because having to pretend I didn't wish I could touch you like this all the time was hurting me very badly." Sam watched the two of them with an amused expression and snorted to interrupt their little _moment_.

"You two are disgustingly adorable. I'm going to have a whole other issue to deal with now, aren't I? I need someone else to suffer through this with me."

Dean smiled, feeling a small blush start to cover his cheeks. He couldn't help it! Cas was just adorable and just had this way of talking, he said loving stuff like it was the upmost truth and no one could argue otherwise. How could anyone not blush when faced with that!

A loud snort interrupted them before Dean could say anything in response and he turned to glare at his younger brother. "Yeah yeah, complain all you want, this was your doing." He reminded him, before frowning and adding, "you better not be planning on bringing some random person back to the bunker.”

"Random?" Sam replied. "No, nobody random. I just don't want to be 'hashtag forever alone' so I'll have to make a list of all the people I could potentially date and figure something out. I need to push back against the World's Most Disgusting Couple by being equally disgusting with my own boyfriend or girlfriend." He shrugged. "Y'know what, I'll leave you alone, go get started on that, and you two can do whatever you want. Just don't be loud."

Cas turned to his boyfriend and raised one eyebrow suggestively, yet another facial expression he learned from Dean.

Dean looked at Sam suspiciously. That seemed... odd, to say the least. Oh well, Dean decided, as long as he didn't decide to bring home a random person it was fine. It would probably be nice to have another person around the bunker, they would have to be a hunter or at least know of the life, so maybe they could help out.

Dean nearly burst out laughing at Cas' face. There was something so funny about Castiel, angel of the Lord, pure and sweet, raising one eyebrow suggestively. Clearly Dean was very successful at corrupting him. He quickly winked back at his boyfriend before grabbing his hand and pulling him out of the room.

Sam wasn't entirely lying. He did want to find someone to share his life with so he wasn't stuck hearing Dean and Cas bone it out every night and wishing he had someone who actually loved him like that, but he also had a specific person in mind.

He made his way into the kitchen, got himself a beer, leaned against a counter, and called out to the empty room. "Hey, uh... I know you can hear me. I kind of miss you, so, why don'tcha come down here and make me feel better?" He took a swig of his beer and waited.

Gabriel was in the middle of relaxing on a deserted island - stop judging, he deserved a break - when he heard Sam's prayer. He thought about ignoring it, just for a moment, before he realised he really couldn't. He never had been able to ignore Sam, no more than Cassie had been able to ignore Dean.

"Aww, miss me did you?" He asked with a shit eating grin as he popped into the bunkers kitchen. He pulled his lollypop out of his mouth with a pop and used it to point at Sam, "I didn't know you cared that much!"

Sam sighed in an awkward mix of exasperation and relief. "Course I do, Gabe." The nickname slipped out unintentionally, but he didn't let it trip him up. "You're... you're my friend. Kinda got over all that Mystery Spot stuff after you, y'know, died for us."

Gabriel smiled at Sam's nickname for him, Sam was so cute when he was flustered, even if he was very good at hiding it. He winced slightly about the reminder of his death but decided to move past it, if dying was what he needed to do to get forgiven for that and to be a part of Sam's life again, then he would do it all again in a heartbeat... or a wing beat he supposed.

"You're my friend too." He said, trying to hide his sweet smile behind a smirk. For fuck’s sake, why was he so whipped? What had happened to the cool and flirty Gabriel? "Anyway.... Why did you call?" He asked, trying to change the subject, it was feeling just a little bit too mushy for him.

Sam laughed and took another long pull of his beer. "Dean and Cas are being _gross as hell_. I was complaining, and they told me I was jealous and I needed to get my own boyfriend," he lied. "You're more fun than a boyfriend, anyway."

_Nice save, Winchester,_ he thought sarcastically to himself.

Gabriel squinted slightly. "They finally got their heads out of their asses?" he asked in shock. He hadn’t thought that would ever happen, no matter how much he hoped it would. He had been about a week away from locking them in a room together with a kiss as the key. "Wow."

He smiled a secret little smile, he was more fun than a boyfriend! Unless..... Unless the boyfriend was himself.... And then he would be just as fun... As himself.

_Shut up_. He told himself quickly. _sort your shit out later, when Sam isn't right in front of you._

"That's what I've been saying all damn day!" Sam exclaimed, gesturing in Gabriel's direction in agreement. "Thank you, somebody understands me."

Gabriel smiled. "Of course. Where are our brothers anyway?" he asked, looking around in confusion. He kind of wanted to go and find them so he could bully Cassie about finally sorting his shit out with Dean. He was a bit of a hypocrite... but no one else needed to know that.

"I think they're making out in Dean's bedroom, if they haven't gotten down to business already." He punctuated the word 'business' with a wink to make sure Gabriel would get the message.

Okay, so maybe he was a little more in love with Gabriel than he'd admitted to anyone. And okay, maybe he thought about him a lot. And maybe he was kind of hypocritical for giving Dean and Cas shit about taking so long to get together when he was still... getting nowhere with the archangel.

“Ahh, ok." Gabriel muttered, deciding that risking having to brain bleach wasn't worth the shit he wanted to give Cassie. It could wait until they reemerged. "Soooooooo…" he muttered awkwardly, all of his energy going towards not kissing the beautiful moose in front of him, "what do you want to do......"

Sam cleared his throat. "You do know that sounded like an innuendo, right? I mean, maybe it's just that it's you, and everything you do sounds like an innuendo. You're basically sex on legs."

Oh, fuck me fuck me _fuck me_. He was so screwed. Why in God's name did he have to say that?

Gabriel just froze. _whatthefuckwhatthefuckwhatthefuck!!!_ Did... Did Sam like him? Did Sam just say that he sounded like an innuendo? What did this...... He opened his mouth, with no idea what was going to come out, but before he could make some form of bad life decision, when Dean walked into the room, a glare on his face. "Gabriel? Really Sammy?" He asked, a mixture of shock and annoyance covering his face. Clearly he hadn't forgiven Gabriel for the Mystery spot issue.

Sam stuck out his tongue at his brother and raised his middle finger ever so slightly off his beer bottle. "I was just lonely, a-hole. Leave me alone. It's not like I was trying to get in his pants or anything." He cringed internally. That was exactly what he wanted to do, but with Dean here he had to hide it as best he could because... no way in the Pit would Dean ever approve of him dating _Gabriel_.

Dean stuck his tongue right back out at Sam. "Hmmmm," he hummed judgmentally as he raised an eye brow. In all honesty, he didn't care if his brother and Gabe ended up together – Gabe was annoying, but as long as he didn't hurt Sammy, why should Dean care? However, it was still his job to be the judgmental older brother so that was what he was going to be.

"As if you're one to talk." Gabriel pointed out, trying to hide how his heart had started sinking at Sam's words. Of course Sam didn't want to get together with Gabriel, why would he? They were just friends. He could sense Cassie approaching and it made him smile. At least he could annoy the shit out of his baby bro, even if he would never get together with his biggest crush out of all time.

Cas heard voices issuing from the kitchen. Dean had said he was just going to get them some water (and lube) and he would only be a minute, but he'd been gone for three so Cas went looking. He stepped into the kitchen and was surprised to find his brother.

"Gabriel," he greeted warmly, walking over to hug his brother with his wings. "How have you been? And why are you here?"

Sam cleared his throat. "Uh, I called him, actually. I was just... kinda... lonely." He took a deep breath and drank at least half of his remaining beer in one gulp. This was getting a little too awkward for his liking.

Dean couldn't help but laugh slightly at his brother's awkward face. He had only been planning to nip to the kitchen, but this was so, _so_ much better. His brother’s giant crush, standing in the kitchen. Sam's caught-with-a-hand-in-the-cookie-jar look. It was all so perfect.

Gabriel smiled as his brother walked in, happily returning the warm hug he was given. "I've been good thanks, though not as good as you have been apparently." He said, with a smirk on his face and a quick glance at the oldest Winchester.

Cas felt his very human body grow warm. "Speaking of which," he murmured, "Dean and I have some extremely urgent business to attend to so if you would excuse us, we'll be going." He grabbed Dean's shoulder and turned him roughly toward the door. As they made their way down the hall, he whispered roughly, "I think it's time we returned Sam's favor."

Sam shifted awkwardly. "I'm sorry about them, they're... family, you know?" he asked, hoping Gabriel would understand. "You wanna play a card game? Watch TV? Just kinda hang and chill?"

Dean smiled as Cas grabbed his shoulder and pushed him down the hall, "we definitely need to return the favor," he whispered back. Now they just had to figure out how.

Gabriel tried to hide _another_ soft smile. Why was Sam so goddamn cute? "I'm up for some TV," he said with a smile, gesturing for Sam to lead the way.

Sam almost missed what Gabriel said he was so focused on the gorgeous smile that spread across his face. After a second, he shook himself. "Uh- what? Oh. Yeah. TV. Great, let's go."

As he walked with Gabriel down the hall, he mentally cursed himself (and the golden-eyed archangel). _Dammit, Gabriel, you weren't supposed to be like this. You weren't supposed to be all sweet and beautiful and flirty. You weren't supposed to be able to do this to my heart._

Gabriel stopped suddenly. His heart? Did that mean? Did that mean Sam really did like him? And not in a lust kind of way either... in a love kind of way?

"Samsquatch, you know I can read your mind, right? If you want me just say so," he said, hoping his voice didn't shake and that he appeared more confident than he felt.

Sam started, turning to look at Gabriel. "I- uh-" He took a deep breath.

"Gabriel," he began softly. "I want you, in all the ways imaginable. All of them. I want to hold you and kiss you and make breakfast with you and go to bed with you and wake up with you and yes, I want the sex, because it's fun. I want to keep falling a little bit more in love with you every day until I die. So, yeah. I want you. I just didn't think that you would want me, after... after everything I've done. Everything I've fucked up. I'm not worth it, Gabe, and I didn't think there was any way you could want that with me."

He was staring at Gabriel now, and the expression on Gabriel's face was one of confusion and hopelessness and some other things that Sam couldn't identify. He just wanted to kiss him. He wanted to kiss him.

Gabriel blinked in confusion, "the things _you've_ done wrong?" He asked incredulously, "what about me? I'm the trickster for goodness sake, I don't think you have to worry about times you have fucked up." Gabriel look a deep breath before saying, "and I want you too. I want all of that, with you."

Gabriel couldn't believe it was happening, this sort of thing never happened to him. He was Gabriel. He was Loki. He was the Trickster. What he wasn't, was lucky. Things never ended up how he wanted them to go... so what was this? Was the universe finally smiling down on him?

Sam's breath was shaky and he could barely believe this was real. Gabriel wanted him. Gabriel wanted _him_, just like he wanted Gabriel. He let the smile break across his face. "I love you," he whispered. "I fucking love you."

Gabriel felt his head and heart stop at Sam's words. This was real. He half expected to wake up and for it all to be a dream, but it then he kept on not waking up. Because it wasn't a dream. This was real. He was allowed this and he had this and Sam fucking loved him.

And he fucking loved Sam.

"I love you too."

Sam laughed giddily. "I'm gonna kiss you now," he announced, and then he did. He lifted Gabriel up with his freakish moose strength and kissed him harder than he'd ever kissed Jess.

Gabe laughed into Sam's mouth as he was lifted up and kissed with all the love Sam held in his heart. Gabe responded the only way he knew, with all the love he had in _his_ heart.

He really fucking loved Sam.

"Sam and Gabriel have been awfully quiet," Cas pointed out after quite a while of laying in bed with Dean's head on his chest, running the back of his hand up and down his chest. "What do you think they're doing?"

Dean thought for a moment before saying, "either they are watching TV or they have sorted their shit out." He paused for a moment just to look up at Cas, his angel, his… boyfriend? "And if it's the latter I'd really rather not know _why_ they are being quiet." He shuddered a little to emphasize his words before settling back against Cas.

Cas smiled knowingly at him. "Gabriel just contacted me," he murmured. "He says that they are, quote, 'getting it on', unquote. And yes," he added, "I am definitely your boyfriend." He pulled his arms just a little tighter around Dean to get more warmth and contact from him.

"What have I told you about reading my mind?" Dean complained, but he didn't really care and he knew Cas would be able to tell. One of the many things he loved about Cas, despite his social awkwardness he always seemed to know what Dean meant. "Also, I really don't want to know about what my brother is up to. So if Gabe contacts you again, please kindly leave me out of the loop."

Dean sighed in contentment. Cas was warm and solid under his head. Gabe and his brother had finally gotten their shit together. Things were definitely looking up.

"Dean, I would like to remind you that I have been respecting your privacy for quite a while and in fact, had I not been, we would have done this-" he gestured to their intertwined and very naked bodies "-far, far sooner. Also, of course, I will refrain from informing you of your brother's sexual activities with my brother. However, I would have it known that I have never understood the human taboo on incestuous relationships."

Dean rolled his eyes, "yeah yeah, I know, I'm an emotionally repressed asshole," he said, but his voice was teasing. Cas had a point – it _had_ taken them ages to get to here. "Also, it's just weird man, there are obviously laws and shit, but it's also... you grew up with them. They are your sibling, not your lover."

"All of the angels grew up together. We are all siblings, and many angels still mate amongst themselves. And shouldn't the difficulties of siblinghood be the perfect environment to fall in love? Does it not create a very strong bond that cannot be broken easily, like that between you and your brother?"

After a beat, Cas laughed. "I apologize, Dean. I am not trying to force you toward your brother, it was just an interesting and unanticipated reaction to my simple comment."

Dean laughed as well but still felt the need to ask. "Are you trying to get rid of me that soon?" His tone was gently teasing but still had an annoying hint of his deeply rooted insecurities. Of course he had to go and ruin the relaxed atmosphere with his own problems. He always did.

Cas pulled him closer, tucking Dean's head beneath his chin, wrapping his arms around Dean's waist. "Never," he told Dean's dark blond hair. "I would stay with you forever, if you'd let me. I will follow you back to Heaven. I will protect you. I will love you for the rest of my existence."

Dean smiled, feeling a kind of safety, tucked against Cas, which he hadn't truly felt since he was 4 years old and learnt of what went bump in the night. "Be careful what you say," he warned, "because if it's up to me you will be by my side for every second of that forever."

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Cas replied. "Every second of forever doesn't sound like enough time."

Sam's eyes were open as they kissed because he _needed_ to _see_ Gabriel's face. His eyes flashed golden with passion as Sam kept finding new things to do to him, running his tongue over Gabriel's teeth, sucking on Gabriel's lip, even biting down on Gabriel's collarbone, cataloging every reaction.

Gabe gasped as he kissed Sam, every new sensation feeling like the best thing ever. Why had he ever thought a random hookup would be anything like this? He could already tell he was screwed. One taste and now he would be chasing after Sam Winchester for the rest of both of their existences.

He wouldn't have it any other way.

"Oh, god yes," Sam murmured. "Neither would I."

Sam dropped his archangel onto the couch and followed close after, propping himself up on his hands and knees and forcing Gabriel to lean up to kiss him.

Gabe paused for a moment. Had he said that out loud? Before he got destracted again by kissing Sam. He definitely didn't squeak when he got dropped. And he definitely didn't grab onto the front of Sam's shirt to stop him from moving away. Never. No collected, self-respecting archangel would do those things.

_Then it’s a good thing I'm not a collected, self-respecting archangel,_ Gabe thought to himself as he clung on tighter and kissed with more feeling.

Sam smirked in response to Gabriel's clinginess. Somehow this was the best thing he'd felt in a very, _very_ long time. Eventually he stopped even trying to think and let his body take over. It was all Gabriel. Just Gabriel, Gabriel, Gabriel.

Gabe relaxed into Sam, allowing his worries and thoughts and everything to just melt away, until all that the could see, hear, feel, was Sam. Sam's warmth, Sam's taste, Sam's sounds.

He felt that, in that moment, he was truly Gabe. He wasn't an archangel; he was hardly even a normal angel. He was just him, and Sam was just Sam, and they were just together. And that was how it was meant to be.

"You appear bored," Castiel observed amusedly. "Is there something you would like to be doing right now?"

Dean smiled at Cas' tone, he knew what he was expected to answer but he also knew what he really wanted to answer would either end up one of two ways - awesome or awful.

He chewed on his lip for a minute, warring with himself between asking or just shaking off his thoughts. As always, his self-preservation instincts fell off and his curiosity won over.

"Can I - can I see your wings?"

Cas looked at him in surprise. "You want to see my wings?" he repeated. "Okay." He moved himself into a sitting position. He unfurled them and then carefully lowered the Grace warding that kept them hidden from Dean.

He had always been a little insecure about his wings. They weren't grandiose or beautiful like the archangels, they were just... black. Nothing special like some of his brothers and sisters, just one solid color.

Dean barely had time to get over the shock that Cas was actually letting him see Cas' wings - Cas had said yes! Cas had agreed to his pointless request, just because he had asked! - before Cas was shifting away and revealing his wings.

He felt his breath catch in his throat as he laid his eyes on Cas' wings. They were - they were spectacular.

Beautiful. Wonderful. Magnificent. Majestic. Dazzling. Awe-inspiring. Breathtaking.

They were more amazing than Dean's human words could ever express. The wings blackness dazzled, not reflecting Death or secrecy, but just showing safety and the pure vastness of the universe, condensed into just two wings.

"Wow," was all he could mutter out.

Cas averted his gaze. "You should see Gabriel's," he muttered in an attempt to deflect. "They're far bigger, and they're golden. This is nothing."

He glanced up after a moment when Dean didn't say anything. "Are you alright?"

Dean's mouth dropped open is shock. 'you should see Gabriel's'... Really? Why- why on earth would he want to see Gabriel's?

"Really Cas? I don't want to see Gabriel's! Yours are amazing, no matter what you think! And your wings are not nothing, will never be nothing! I mean, look at me! I don't even have mud brown wings so personally I think your wings are quite a bit bigger and nicer than mine!" He breathed deeply, trying to calm his heart rate down after his little rant. He really needed to stop being such a hypocrite. Here he was blowing his top over Cas talking down about himself, when that was how he solved 70% of all problems. Oh well. That was different.

He glanced up at Cas' bright blue eyes and felt pure love fill him, before looking back at Cas' wings. They were amazing, but there was something bugging Dean which he couldn't quite name. Without even noticing or thinking about what he was doing, he reached forwards and smoothed out one of the feathers which was ruffled.

Cas gasped involuntarily and his wings twitched. He took a deep breath and pulled away. "I'm sorry," he whispered, attempting to pull his wings back. "I'm sorry."

He glanced at Dean, taking a pause. "But you have emerald green eyes and a perfect jawline and a wonderful physique. I am plain and boring and I have never been remarkable, in all my millennia of existence, to anyone but you."

Dean felt his eyes widen and a smile burst onto his face as Cas' wings twitched, he started to reach out for the next ruffled feather when Cas pulled away.

He stared for a moment, listening to Cas ramble about – about how he was boring?

"Cas." Dean said simply, grabbing Cas' hands and holding them tightly, "I don't know who told you that or why you believe it, but you are anything but plain, boring and unremarkable. You're an angel, you're all those things you said about me and more, but more than that. You're you. And you are the most amazing thing I have ever seen in my lifetime." Dean took a deep breath, chuckling to himself slightly before adding, "And I know it doesn't quite match up to millennia of existence, but from my point of view, it doesn't matter. Because I love you, and that will never change."

Cas took a deep breath. "Grooming an angel's wings is one of the most intimate and precious acts we have. It is extremely pleasurable for us and often allows us to become closer to our mate of choice. There are few other 'domestic' things we do with our mates, which is why they are held with such high reverence. You touching my wings... it's a very close and personal thing."

"Oh." Dean said simply, suddenly understanding Cas' hesitation. "I'm sorry that I can't live up to other angels,” he whispered, staring down at his lap. He didn't have wings, he didn't understand angel cultures, he didn't feel things like an angel, he just wasn't what Cas deserved. Humans had other domestic things, but nothing like wing grooming. "I'm sorry." The worst thing about the whole thing was that he could still feel it - he could still feel the itch under his skin which was telling at him to straighten the bent feathers and - he now realized - groom Cas' wings.

"No, Dean," Cas told him. "I don't want you to be sorry. I want you to groom my wings. But I needed you to know _why_ it's important. I also wanted you to understand that _you are my mate_. I will never have another as long as I live. I exist solely for you."

Dean felt all the air he had in his lungs whoosh out of his at Cas' statement. He didn't think he had breathed properly since this conversation started. He desperately wanted to reply, say something to show Cas that he cared as much as Cas cared for him, say something so that Cas knew that being his mate was all Dean really wanted to be.

But like always, words failed him.

So he did just about the only thing he could think to do. He carefully reached forwards, straightening the next crooked feather and the next after that, a small smile breaking out on his face as he did so. He was Cas' mate, that's why he was grooming Cas' wings. And Cas was his mate, who he would love for as long as his existence lasted.

Cas let his head fall forward onto Dean's shoulder, breathing shallowly into his clavicle. His wings stretched out to encase the two of them, shielding them from the world. "I love you, Dean Winchester," he breathed against his boyfriend's skin. "I love you so much."

Dean hummed lightly as Cas' wings encircled him, moving his hands and gently fixing feather after feather. It felt so right and a burst of joy filled him every time he felt Cas relax _even_ more. He couldn't believe he had ended up getting this lucky.

"I love you too." He whispered back, "more than words can express."

Hours later, after a very _very_ pleasant second round, Cas finally managed to drag his boyfriend out of bed to rejoin their brother who - thankfully - were done with their own sexual exploits.

"I am glad that the two of you have managed to figure out your issues with relatively less difficulty than Dean and I," he told them, smiling. "It is nice to see you both happy."

Dean smiled at his boyfriend's words. "Ditto," he muttered, still glancing a little distrustfully at Gabe but happy that they were both happy.

"I'm glad too." Gabe said with a grin, "I'm not sure I would have been able to survive the amount of UST you two went thorough."

Cas wrapped an arm around his boyfriend just as Sam did the same. "Dean is worried about you," he informed his friend. "But he loves you, too."

Sam laughed. "Yeah, I know he does. He's an emotionally constipated idiot, but he loves me. And I love you too," he added, grinning at his brother.

"Oi!" Dean said in fake annoyance, 'I'm right here you know!" But everyone knew that he didn't really care. It was actually refreshing to have someone who understood him as well as Cas did.

Cas laughed. "Yes, Dean, we know. You're somewhat hard to miss."

Sam made a grossed-out face. "Well, I love you guys and all, but we have lost time to make up for, so..." he turned back to his archangel. "Wanna get back to it?"

Dean laughed as well; Cas' face was so filled with joy that he couldn't help it... until Sam started talking to Gabe, at which point his smile dropped and was replaced with a look of disgust. "Really Sam?"

Gabe ignored Sam's brother, just replying with a quick smile before grabbing Sam's arm and pulling him back down the hallway.

Cas took Dean by the arm and murmured, "would you like to continue as well?" despite knowing what the answer would be before he even considered it.

And as he made his way back into Dean's bedroom, he thought, _this is perfect_.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope the formatting isn't too weird. I've never done this before, so let me know if I messed it up. Comment below and tell me what you thought!
> 
> Love,  
-Fake Dean | Sil
> 
> [P.S. I was Cas/Sam, she's Dean/Gabe]


End file.
